The 1997 season for the OVDCA/Ohio Caverns Touring Series kicked off on April 12th at the 1/3 mile asphalt oval at Columbus Motor Speedway. Ed Vallette set the pace at Columbus, taking both the heat and feature win, taking the early lead in the points chase. Bob Miller finished in the runnerup spot.

After several rain delays and schedule problems, the action resumed at Crooksville Speedway on May 23rd. Dave Broadwater of Marietta, OH picked up the feature win on the 3/8 mile dirt oval, with Jeff Staggers 2nd and Bo Wiley 3rd. Vallette maintained his points lead with a 5th place finish.

After one non-points show and several more rainouts, a large contingent of OVDCA racers journeyed to the famous high banks of Eldora for the UDRA Midwest Dirt Nationals. The A-Main feature was won by veteran sprint car driver Charlie Fisher, driving a car owned by OVDCA members Jim Seedle and Chuck Hanson. Terry Hall finished second in the A-main after running in the front pack the entire race. Staggers finished fifth in the A-Main, despite breaking a bone in his wrist during contact early in the race. Pendleton ran ninth after winning his heat race. Also competing in the A-Main were Chad LeVan in eleventh, Bob Wiley fourteenth, Toby Boetcher sixteenth, Kelly Moore eighteenth, and Wayne Fitzpatrick nineteenth. LeVan and Wiley ran 1-2 in the first consi, and Boetcher won the second consi after a tremendous four way battle that included Tracy Fritter and Vallette. Vallette also won the B-main, with Stevens fourth, McBride seventh, Fritter eighth, Doug Eagle ninth, Steve Bailey twelfth, Greg Watson sixteenth, Mike Rector seventeenth, Bill Hostetler eighteenth, Mark Bernard nineteenth, Max Evans twentieth, and Shane Simmons twenty-first.

The dwarfs again visited Crooksville on June 27th with Jeff Staggers taking the first of what would turn out to be four feature wins at the track in the ’97 season. Jason Glick and Bob Miller rounded out the top three.

The schedule took a swing to the asphalt 3/8 mile track of Lorain Speedway on the following night. While the long haul and the overnight switch in race surfaces resulted in the smallest field of the season, the action on the track was hot, as Chad Pendleton , Vallette, Miller and Wiley battled for the win. Pendleton prevailed, in what would be the first of five asphalt victories for him for the season. Staggers hung in for a sixth place finish to make the points race a two way battle with Vallette.

The OVDCA dwarfs provided their own fireworks on the Fourth of July weekend, with the B.T. Race Products/Ohio Asphalt Championship at Shady Bowl Speedway, the club’s first visit to the 3/10 mile asphalt oval for ’97. The B.T. Race Products/Torco Fuels (130 N. High St. Mt. Sterling, OH 614-869-4585) sponsorship enabled the club to offer a $500 to win purse, which went to Pendleton, but not without a battle from Vallette and Glick. Shawn Stevens and Bill Hostetler rounded out the top five. The second event of the weekend, at Flag City Motorsports Park, resulted in a feature victory for the OVDCA 1996 Rookie of the Year Stevens. Vallette was second, while the Oak’s Machine sponsored trio of Todd Barstow, Buddy McBride and Rick Brown were third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Attica Raceway Park hosted the OVDCA dwarfs on July 25th, with dirt late model driver Rick DeLong piloting Chuck Engles’ car to the victory. Vallette used his second place finish to maintain his lead over Staggers, who ended up third.

A rainout on July 27th resulted in double features at Crooksville on August 8th, and Jeff Staggers took full advantage of the opportunity by taking both feature wins. Vallette incredible streak of eight top five finishes in a row ended as a result of mechanical trouble in feature one and a tenth place finish in feature two, bringing Staggers within 7 points of Vallette in the points race, with Shawn Stevens in third. Only 20 points separated the next six drivers. Rookie Tracy Fritters took two third place finishes for the night, putting him into a battle with Rick Brown for the Rookie of the Year contest.

Shady Bowl Speedway was the site of the next two events, a non-points show on 8/9 won by Chad Pendleton, and a 8/16 program that was ultimately rained out after the heats and rescheduled for September. The dwarfs moved on to a return visit at Columbus Motor Speedway on August 23rd, where Vallette was once again the man to beat. Vallette’s heat and feature win kept him in control of the points, with Pendleton taking second in front of a large hometown crowd, and Jason Glick taking third.

Attica Raceway Park was the site of tremendous battle on August 30th, as Wiley, Pendleton, Vallette and Staggers fought for the top spot. Wiley took the checkered for his first feature win of the season, with the top four close enough to throw a blanket over them.

The rain delayed feature from 8/16 and a complete program was held at Shady Bowl on 9/13. Staggers showed how much improvement he has made on asphalt by taking the first feature, while Pendleton continued his streak of wins at the unique high banked oval, taking his fourth win of the year. Wiley and Staggers ended the night with two top five finishes, while Vallette continued to hang tough with the points lead after 4 th and 6th place finishes.

The final dirt event of the year was held at Crooksville Speedway on 9/20, after several rainouts and reschedules. The event encouraged participation with the OVDCA’s closest dwarf car club neighbor, the Tri-State dwarfs of West Virginia. Staggers survived a caution-plagued feature and several bad breaks of his own to take the checkered ahead of Terry Hall and Jeff Shuck.

The OVDCA wrapped up it’s 1997 season at Shady Bowl Speedway on October 10th. The stage was set for a showdown between Ed Vallette and Jeff Staggers, as only 20 points separated the two in the OVDCA/Ohio Caverns Touring Series points race. The much anticipated battle ended abruptly on lap four of the feature, as Staggers made contact with the backstretch wall, ending his day. Vallette went on to capture the feature win, becoming the 1997 OVDCA champion, while Wiley, Pendleton and Stevens rounded out the top five in the OVDCA/Ohio Caverns Touring Series points race. Brown held on to take the Rookie of the Year honors over Fritters.